Autism Society reacts to Sonia Roco's statement

Filipinos with autistic family members were gravely hurt by senatoriable Sonia Roco's recent political yet irresponsible statement. This sentiment is shared by ASM--The Autism Society of the Philippines. Here is their reaction to Roco's statement:


---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Para naman silang mga autistic...me sariling mundo".

This is what Senatorial candidate Sonia Roco said when interviewed on TV Patrol Monday evening newscast, regarding Team Unity's reaction to poll surveys on Top 12 senators. She followed her statement with a hearty laugh.

But we could not laugh with her.

Coming from a respectable Educator like Mrs. Roco, families of Filipinos with autism could not help but feel hurt by such statement, given the context that it was said. After all, we have worked so hard for the past 20 years to educate Filipinos about autism, and to remove the social stigma associated with it.

We can't help but wonder...if a poll survey is to be conducted now among the estimated 400,000 Filipino families (multiply that please with the number of immediate family members and elatives, plus professionals involved), what would be Mrs. Roco's ranking?

Dang Uy Koe

President

Autism Society Philippines

Update: ASP already got in touch with the office of Mrs. Roco regarding this matter and is expecting her reply.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

While we Filipinos are fond of cracking jokes, what I really cannot digest is how certain people would make fun of special people--the autistic, the handicapped, the poor, the obesed, the curly-haired, the dark-colored...the list just goes longer. I mean can't we just respect one another? We are each created uniquely, but we are all equals in this world, and we have no right to claim that we are superior to others. We need to even have that responsibility to widen our understanding and concern for people who are often misunderstood. Wouldn't this world be a better place if we just lift our morals a little bit higher than where it is collectively right now?

-Dexter